When it comes to faithfully observing the Advent season, the Rev. Richard L. Smith, the vicar general for the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, urged congregants to adhere the opening of Mark 13:33-37.

“As we joyfully prepare to celebrate the beginning of this Advent season, Jesus says it well in the beginning of the Gospel: ‘Be watchful, be alert. Watch,’” Father Smith said, per a Facebook post by the diocese. “These words remind all of us what the season of Advent is all about. We are on the watch for the coming of Jesus. We joyfully make ready our hearts and souls for the coming of Christ at Christmas, but we are also on the watch for the coming of Christ in the future, at a moment we do not expect.”

Father Smith added that the faithful must “always be ready.”

“We find ways to be at peace this season, to be joyful and loving in our words and actions, and to let Christ’s love shine for all to see,” he said.

It’s common knowledge among most Christians that Advent serves as a leadup to Christmas, the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ, but according to the website Christianity.com, there’s more to it than that.

The website said that Advent is borrowed from the Latin word for “coming,” explaining how during the fourth and fifth centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was observed in preparation for baptism of new members of the Church at Epiphany in January in addition to the following events of Jesus’s Life: the visit from the three kings, his baptism by St. John the Baptist and the miracle at the wedding in Cana.

And just like Lent today, early Christians marked Advent with 40 days of prayer and fasting.

Advent became associated with Christmastime during the Middle Ages, according to Christianity.com.